Thirteen Bridges Tour (and a few hot chicks)

[Jamie Z]

About a month ago I came across this thread showing a route visiting all thirteen remaining covered bridges in the state of Kentucky. Initially I invited a friend to join me, but as plans came together, she wasn't able to make it, so this turned into another solo ride.

Geowoodstock VII was held in Bell Buckle, Tennessee this year and it made a good stop on my way north to Kentucky.

I also planned to geocache along the way, as there is a geocache hidden at each of the covered bridges in Kentucky. A brief primer on geocaching, if you're not familiar: it's a GPS game where someone will hide a container somewhere and post the coordinates online. With your own GPS, you go look for the container they've hidden. There is a logbook in the container to sign.

I left Memphis on Friday May 22, a bit after 4pm. I'd intended to get on the road much earlier, but I had some school and work things to finish up, not to mention packing up my stuff. The first day, as you can imagine, was fairly uneventful until just after dark when I came across a horse show out in the country (these have a habit of making appearances in my ride reports). Very hard to take pics at night of fast-moving horses and riders.





I camped that night at a boat ramp on Pin Oak Lake.



The next day, Saturday, was Geowoodstock, the largest gathering of geocachers in the world. This year Geowoodstock was held in Bell Buckle, Tennessee.

This is the chow line.



This is kind of an inside joke, but it's a funny picture nonetheless, especially since two of the guys in the pic are members here.



As soon as Geowoodstock wrapped up, I hit the road. I still had a long way to the first covered bridge. That night I camped under a church pavillion.



I was awake shortly after sunrise and on the road again. I crossed the dam at Lake Cumberland in Kentucky and took a break by the massive boat ramp, which was very busy on this Memorial Day weekend.



Taking the v-Strom down to the water, I happened on this view... and later kicked myself for the blur.



In my defense, the boat was very far out from shore and my camera was at full zoom (and I've since cropped the pic). For almost the entire time I watched, the girl sat down in the boat, so when she got up, I quickly snapped a photo and only later realized my hands must have been shaking.

It's a good thing I got this pic too, when they came closer to pick up some friends.



Time to go...

Ah, Kentucky.



And some of you are probably familiar with this game.



My last stop before the bridges, Kentucky state capitol in Frankfort.



Jamie

[flyingz06]

that is a massive ramp! Hope something doesn't give out!

[GB]

You redeemed yourself nicely after that blurry picture!! Nice ride too

[H14]

Holy Moly SUBSCRIBED

[rascalman]

I'm in

[Haywood]

What tent is that you are using?

[bk brkr baker]

Looking forward to the rest. I've been to most of them. If I'd known you were so close Ida waved.

[leonphelps]

Originally Posted by h14xl

Holy Moly SUBSCRIBED

Uh.....yea.......I don't get it......what am i missing here?...

[FOXedupONE]

Originally Posted by jbunceiii

Uh.....yea.......I don't get it......what am i missing here?...

That if you have a snazy speedboat 1 fat chick and 1 busty hot babe will want to come take a ride with you.

[(none)]

Originally Posted by jbunceiii

Uh.....yea.......I don't get it......what am i missing here?...

b(.)(.)bs, tig-ol-bitties, chesticles, got it now?

[schismatic]

JUDGING BY THE BLURRY PHOTO, THE CHUBBY CHICK GOT LEFT ON THE SHORE!

GOOD CHOICE.

[halliwood]

when do you plan on making it to the one in Bourbon Co? If you haven't already just pm me and I'll make the trip out with you if I'm in town and not at work.

[bigdon]

Looks like he is waiting on BG to step on boat then pour the coal to it!
BG go splash!

[Jamie Z]

Originally Posted by Haywood

What tent is that you are using?

Eureka Backcountry 1.

Originally Posted by FOXedupONE

That if you have a snazy speedboat 1 fat chick and 1 busty hot babe will want to come take a ride with you.

The fat chick had a fat shirtless boyfriend. I cropped him out of the picture for obvious reasons.

Originally Posted by schismatic

JUDGING BY THE BLURRY PHOTO, THE CHUBBY CHICK GOT LEFT ON THE SHORE!

Not quite. The pics are shown in chronological order. The two in the boat were waiting for the other two to park the truck. When they walked down the ramp, they came closer to shore to pick them up. Turn off your caps lock.

Originally Posted by halliwood

when do you plan on making it to the one in Bourbon Co? If you haven't already just pm me and I'll make the trip out with you if I'm in town and not at work.

This isn't a real-time report. I made the ride over Memorial Day weekend and am posting about it now. I posted my intentions in the GPS Tracks forum... wished we'd been able to meet up. I always like to meet other riders.

Jamie

[Jamie Z]

To give you an idea where I traveled, here is the route. I circled it clockwise.



The bridges are clustered in the northeastern region of the state.



My first Kentucky Covered Bridge.

Switzer Bridge (shown as North Elkhorn Bridge in the route).



Picture taken in 1953 by Traugott F. Keller, Jr.


(taken from http://csimelissa.smugmug.com/Covered%20Bridges)

Originally built in 1855 it was restored in 1906, 1990, and 1998 after a flood washed it downstream. The bridge is closed to vehicle traffic, though you could probably squeeze your motorcycle across, not that I'd condone anyone doing that.

It's 120 feet long, built of Howe truss design:



There were a number of people there when I visited, including two cruiser riders who stopped for about 15 minutes and several kids fishing under the bridge. I wasn't able to find the geocache hidden at this bridge after a lengthy search.


Next stop, Colville Bridge.



And as it was in 1970, photographer unknown.


(taken from http://csimelissa.smugmug.com/Covered%20Bridges)

Colville Bridge was built in 1877 and has undergone restoration in 1913, 1937, and 1998 after flood damage. Today it is still open to traffic.



The bridge is 124 feet long and is a double post brace design, also called multiple king post.



Again, I wasn't able to find the geocache hidden here. Not having much luck geocaching today.


The route to the next bridge brought me through some beautiful country.



The route also traveled on roads which were no longer open, as I found when I encountered this block.



And then later, another closed road. I tried to follow this one but there was a deep ravine about 100 yards past the end of the pavement.



Curiously, though the road is marked "No Outlet," there is a sign (barely legible here) which states the distances to the next towns.




Eventually I found my way to Johnson Creek Bridge.



Another bridge closed to traffic, again it would be easy to ride a bike across, if one so chose. It was built in 1874 and is 131 feet long. Called a Smith truss, the arched beams are a major design element.



I found the geocache at this bridge, though it took quite a search as my GPS was pointing well away from the place I eventually found it.

The bridge is in the final stages of restoration. I found this picture online of the beginning of the work.


(taken from http://www.coveredbridgesociety.org/news-frame.html)

As I suited up an SUV pulled up on the other side, and four people got out. One of the four was a gorgeous young woman, just my style. Very sexy. I took the opportunity for a couple more bridge shots.



And if we zoom in a bit (which I did) and crop a bit, we catch a glimpse of the cutie.




Off to the next bridge, I saw this strange sight. The owner looked like he belonged on the cast of Hee Haw and told me that for a while he had the tail lights of the car hooked up and some legs sticking out from underneath, but "they rotted away."




I made it to Walcott Bridge as the sun hung low over the horizon.



Walcott Bridge was built in the 1880s and is 74 feet long. This picture was taken in 1952 by Traugott F. Keller, Jr.


(taken from http://csimelissa.smugmug.com/Covered%20Bridges)

It's called a king and queen post truss design.



The bridge is closed to traffic, though a narrow motorcycle could fit between the barriers.



For those wondering, this was the first time I'd taken my bike on a bridge where I wasn't supposed to.

The geocache hidden near this bridge was easily my favorite of all of them. It was an ammo box hidden in the woods not far away, near a survey marker. All the other caches I found on the route were film cannisters tossed nearby without much thought.

Since it was late, I decided to sleep here for the night. I'd found four of the thirteen covered bridges in Kentucky.



Jamie